Duncan Scott/DScott@News-Herald.comKaren M. Danko, center, owner of Emerald Glen Title Agency, Ltd., with her staff at their Willoughby Hills office. The Willoughby Area Chamber of Commerce recently named Emerald Glen Title as their 2012 Distinguished Business of the Year.

Entrepreneurs Byron Crane and Karen Danko know the answer to that question. Both took the plunge and opened their own businesses before the economy tanked in 2008 and have weathered the tough years to emerge successful.

The honor was unexpected for Crane, who owns Crane Enterprises, a company that specializes in graphic design and printing.

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He's been a chamber member for 15 years, serving on various committees, but he said he prefers to remain in the background and work.

"I pretty much just do what needs to be done and I'm happy with that," Crane said. "(The award) came as a shock but I'll take it where I can get it, I guess."

Since starting his printing business in 2003, then called Crane Printing, Crane said he wanted to expand and incorporate other business ventures. That led him to rename the company to Crane Enterprises two years ago.

"For a while I started doing commercial cleaning and floor care with my son," he said. "Once that got established and going, I turned it over to him. Recently I've delved into live music, playing in a band called Alter Ego. We play local venues and I'm also setting up a recording studio."

Danko started her business in 2005 in Willoughby Hills after opening up a title branch for another agency in Mentor. She became interested in the title and escrow business through her mother, a real eastate agent.

Kathy Longo, Emerald Glen's director of sales and the company's main liaison with the chamber, said other chamber members encouraged her to nominate Emerald Glen for the Distinguished Business award.

The bulk of Emerald Glen's business comes from working with Realtors, lenders and investors. In addition to serving her clients well, Longo said she also decided to put Emerald Glen's name forward because of the service Danko and her team provide to the community.

"Karen gives back a lot to the community. All the real estate (agents) at the holiday have charity parties and fundraisers. We give to every real estate office," she said. "Then when we had that down market a lot of companies went out of business. We say the strong will survive. We survived, now we're benefitting from it."

Versatility is paramount to entrepreneurs, but so too is optimism.

Crane said business owners tend to be optimists, otherwise they wouldn't have ventured off on their own.

"When I started my business the economy was not good," he said. "It was after 9/11 and there was a lot of upheaval. Many people told me it probably wasn't the best time to do this."

It wasn't always easy Crane admits, but business owners are used to adapting their companies to ever changing economic and financial circumstances. It's why he likes exploring new ventures, like music and recording.

"We had our busiest year ever last year," Danko said of her title agency. "I know a lot of the media says it's terrible, but we haven't really seen it. We've had a good couple years and I'm hearing from Realtors that there's multiple offers now than they had in the past. ... It was terrible in 2007 and then everything kind of crashed. It's definitely coming back."

At her opening, Danko said there were plenty of people telling her not to go through with the business. But, she estimates her business has increased at least three-fold since 2008,

"You always have the nay-sayers telling you, 'Don't do this. You're not going to succeed. You're going to fail.' And you know what? When I went into the market in 2005 it was a good market and then it crashed in 2007. And it was bad for a while," she said. "But don't listen to negative people who tell you that you can't do things because you can."

It comes back to having an answer to the same question -- What if?

"Even if I do fail five years down the road or whatever, I still tried. You have to at least try, and I think so many people are afraid to try," Danko said. "Any time you have an idea that's the first thing people say, 'Oh, you can't do that.' Why? Give it a try. You don't know how successful you can be until you try."

The Willoughby Area Chamber of Commerce will host a luncheon to honor Crane and Emerald Glen at noon, Friday, Jan. 25, at Pine Ridge County Club in Wickliffe. The luncheon will also include a brief annual meeting of the chamber and the swearing in of the 2013 officers.

Cost for the luncheon, which is open to the public, is $30 per person or $220 for a table of eight. Registration may be done online at www.willoughbyareachamber.com or by calling the chamber office at 440-942-1632.